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Jim Cherneski tells a story about a visit to Manchester United. As the founder and chief executive of TruSox, a start-up sports company, he was there to hand out his socks to the players.

Cherneski was approached by a member of the club’s backroom staff, who told him: “You have no idea how much trouble you have caused.”

In the world of elite sport, where even teenagers are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to wear the biggest brands, upstarts like Cherneski are not welcome. Particularly when they are providing the players with a product they love so much that they are willing to risk their lucrative endorsements by wearing it for free.